Toptal is a marketplace for dedicated React.js developers, engineers, programmers, coders, architects, and consultants. Top companies and start-ups choose Toptal React.js freelancers for their mission-critical React.js development projects.

Hire Freelance React.js Developers and Engineers

Phil started his career as a software engineer but quickly discovered that his true passion centered around product management. Over the course of his career, he's successfully occupied a variety of roles across product and engineering—managing teams of up to 12 people and three different SaaS products from idea through launch.

Juraj is an open-minded web developer who's ready for new challenges. He has spent most of his career in web development—starting with PHP, later working with Java and Spring, and now he's mastering the front-end field. He loves working with great people, inspiring others, and being inspired.

Gabriel is a highly efficient and reliable professional who possesses a broad skill set for web application development. He's been working on a range of products and clients from working on scalability problems in production engineering teams at Shopify and Autodesk to launching new applications for startups. Gabriel focuses on creating code that is easy to read, maintain, and test to optimize the developers' experience and the apps themselves.

Congwen is a dedicated web developer who specializes in developing full-stack web applications using practical frameworks. He's passionate about solving problems for others—a good solution to him usually requires a dose of creativity that then requires more effort to adapt and perfect.

David is a full-stack engineer with over 12 years of experience in web development, managing all aspects of the development process. He's worked on 50+ projects and solved complex business problems in various industries including marketing, healthcare, eCommerce, real estate, and car insurance. David has consistently saved costs while increasing profits. He's ready for an opportunity to use his skills to grow your revenue exponentially.

Benjamin is a solid developer with career highlights of working as a senior full-stack developer for a big data analytics startup, a payment processor, and a user testing service. He's worked across the entire development lifecycle and specializes in the front end. Benjamin is meticulous with implementation details while always considering and balancing broader stakeholder concerns. Communication wise, he is prompt, relevant, and professional.

Davor is a full-stack engineer with six years of professional experience working on enterprise and startup projects. He's passionate about learning, expanding his knowledge, building high quality software, and automation.

Abdelhamid is a professional software engineer with 10+ years of experience. A former team leader and CTO of Coligo Technologies. He holds a Master of Science degree and a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering. His specialties include JavaScript, Node.js, Python, REST API, Express, Redis, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, React, Redux, CI/CD, and Cloud services.

Sebastian is a .NET developer specializing in back-end layer development. He has over a decade of professional experience within banking, financial, and recruitment industries. He’s also comfortable in front-end development (React), system design, and architecture. Sebastian has successfully worked with numerous clients to define requirements, design new system elements, implement new functionalities, and optimize existing systems.

With more than a decade of experience working as a developer, Sergei brings a deep understanding of software development and user experience to any project. His specialties include JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js, React, Vue.js, D3.js, and many more.

A Hiring Guide

React is a JavaScript library developed by Facebook that has revolutionized the way we think about apps. Borrowing ideas from declarative, reactive, and functional programming, it makes developing highly interactive user interfaces a breeze. As such, it is something that every front-end developer should have in their tool belt.
Finding the right engineer for all your React needs can be challenging. This hiring guide provides a hiring process with a set of insightful questions to help you identify amazing full-time and part-time React developers who are experts in their field.

Tripcents wouldn't exist without Toptal. Toptal Projects enabled us to rapidly develop our foundation with a product manager, lead developer, and senior designer. In just over 60 days we went from concept to Alpha. The speed, knowledge, expertise, and flexibility is second to none. The Toptal team were as part of tripcents as any in-house team member of tripcents. They contributed and took ownership of the development just like everyone else. We will continue to use Toptal. As a start up, they are our secret weapon.

Brantley Pace, CEO & Co-Founder

Tripcents

In addition to sharp technical skills, Faruk had a great attitude and is a really exceptional communicator. He always let us know where he was with his work, thoroughly and reliably. That's not always the case, and it made working remotely considerably easier. He was an easy integration into the team.

Leif Abraham, Co-Founder

AND CO Ventures Inc

I am more than pleased with our experience with Toptal. The professional I got to work with was on the phone with me within a couple of hours. I knew after discussing my project with him that he was the candidate I wanted. I hired him immediately and he wasted no time in getting to my project, even going the extra mile by adding some great design elements that enhanced our overall look.

Paul Fenley, Director

K Dunn & Associates

The developers I was paired with were incredible -- smart, driven, and responsive. It used to be hard to find quality engineers and consultants. Now it isn't.

Ryan Rockefeller, CEO

Radeeus

Toptal understood our project needs immediately. We were matched with an exceptional freelancer from Argentina who, from Day 1, immersed himself in our industry, blended seamlessly with our team, understood our vision, and produced top-notch results. Toptal makes connecting with superior developers and programmers very easy.

Jason Kulik, Co-Founder

ProHatch

As a small company with limited resources we can't afford to make expensive mistakes. Toptal provided us with an experienced programmer who was able to hit the ground running and begin contributing immediately. It has been a great experience and one we'd repeat again in a heartbeat.

Stuart Pocknee , Principal

Site Specific Software Solutions

We used Toptal to hire a developer with extensive Amazon Web Services experience. We interviewed four candidates, one of which turned out to be a great fit for our requirements. The process was quick and effective.

Abner Guzmán Rivera, CTO and Chief Scientist

Photo Kharma

Sergio was an awesome developer to work with. Top notch, responsive, and got the work done efficiently.

Dennis Baldwin, Chief Technologist and Co-Founder

PriceBlink

Working with Marcin is a joy. He is competent, professional, flexible, and extremely quick to understand what is required and how to implement it.

André Fischer, CTO

POSTIFY

We needed a expert engineer who could start on our project immediately. Simanas exceeded our expectations with his work. Not having to interview and chase down an expert developer was an excellent time-saver and made everyone feel more comfortable with our choice to switch platforms to utilize a more robust language. Toptal made the process easy and convenient. Toptal is now the first place we look for expert-level help.

Derek Minor, Senior VP of Web Development

Networld Media Group

Toptal's developers and architects have been both very professional and easy to work with. The solution they produced was fairly priced and top quality, reducing our time to launch. Thanks again, Toptal.

Jeremy Wessels, CEO

Kognosi

We had a great experience with Toptal. They paired us with the perfect developer for our application and made the process very easy. It was also easy to extend beyond the initial time frame, and we were able to keep the same contractor throughout our project. We definitely recommend Toptal for finding high quality talent quickly and seamlessly.

Ryan Morrissey, CTO

Applied Business Technologies, LLC

I'm incredibly impressed with Toptal. Our developer communicates with me every day, and is a very powerful coder. He's a true professional and his work is just excellent. 5 stars for Toptal.

Pietro Casoar, CEO

Ronin Play Pty Ltd

Working with Toptal has been a great experience. Prior to using them, I had spent quite some time interviewing other freelancers and wasn't finding what I needed. After engaging with Toptal, they matched me up with the perfect developer in a matter of days. The developer I'm working with not only delivers quality code, but he also makes suggestions on things that I hadn't thought of. It's clear to me that Amaury knows what he is doing. Highly recommended!

George Cheng, CEO

Bulavard, Inc.

As a Toptal qualified front-end developer, I also run my own consulting practice. When clients come to me for help filling key roles on their team, Toptal is the only place I feel comfortable recommending. Toptal's entire candidate pool is the best of the best. Toptal is the best value for money I've found in nearly half a decade of professional online work.

Ethan Brooks, CTO

Langlotz Patent & Trademark Works, Inc.

In Higgle's early days, we needed the best-in-class developers, at affordable rates, in a timely fashion. Toptal delivered!

Lara Aldag, CEO

Higgle

Toptal makes finding a candidate extremely easy and gives you peace-of-mind that they have the skills to deliver. I would definitely recommend their services to anyone looking for highly-skilled developers.

Michael Gluckman, Data Manager

Mxit

Toptal’s ability to rapidly match our project with the best developers was just superb. The developers have become part of our team, and I’m amazed at the level of professional commitment each of them has demonstrated. For those looking to work remotely with the best engineers, look no further than Toptal.

Laurent Alis, Founder

Livepress

Toptal makes finding qualified engineers a breeze. We needed an experienced ASP.NET MVC architect to guide the development of our start-up app, and Toptal had three great candidates for us in less than a week. After making our selection, the engineer was online immediately and hit the ground running. It was so much faster and easier than having to discover and vet candidates ourselves.

Jeff Kelly, Co-Founder

Concerted Solutions

We needed some short-term work in Scala, and Toptal found us a great developer within 24 hours. This simply would not have been possible via any other platform.

How to Hire React.js Developers through Toptal

Talk to One of Our Industry Experts

A Toptal director of engineering will work you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics.

2

Work With Hand-Selected Talent

Within days, we'll introduce you to the right React.js developer for your project. Average time to match is under 24 hours.

3

The Right Fit, Guaranteed

Work with your new React.js developer for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they're the right fit before starting the engagement.

FAQs

How are Toptal React.js developers different?

At Toptal, we thoroughly screen our React.js developers to ensure we only match you with talent of the highest caliber. Of the more than 100,000 people who apply to join the Toptal network each year, fewer than 3% make the cut. You'll work with engineering experts (never generalized recruiters or HR reps) to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics. The end result: expert vetted talent from our network, custom matched to fit your business needs. Start now.

Can I hire React.js developers in less than 48 hours through Toptal?

Depending on availability and how fast you can progress, you could start working with a React.js developer within 48 hours of signing up. Start now.

What is the no-risk trial period for Toptal React.js developers?

We make sure that each engagement between you and your React.js developer begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have time to confirm the engagement will be successful. If you're completely satisfied with the results, we'll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you'd like. If you're not completely satisfied, you won't be billed. From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another expert who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second, no-risk trial. Start now.

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How to Hire a Great React.js Developer

Intro

Another wave of evolution in client-side application development is approaching. It involves ES6, the new version of JavaScript, universal applications, functional programming, server-side rendering and a webpack, which is like a task-runner with a jetpack.

Also, React is super hot right now. It is a concise and excellent framework to build performant components. Since we already have all that, how do you find the missing piece — the engineer who will embrace it and build state-of-the-art software for you?

React Plainly

First things first. In the context of React being marketed as only a views library, and as client-side applications consist of more than just views, React won’t be the only tool that your candidate will use. Still, it is a crucial one. Here are a few screening questions.

Q: What are higher-order components in React?

Broadly speaking, a higher-order component is a wrapper. It is a function which takes a component as its argument and returns a new one. It can be used to extend or modify the behaviour (including the rendered output) of the contained component. Such use of components that change behavior without modifying the underlying class in React is well characterized by the decorator pattern.

The higher-order components are a way to build components using composition. An example use case would be to abstract out pieces of code, which are common to multiple components:

Higher order components are the immediate answer to the design decision of moving away from mix-ins in React for ES6, which was done in early 2015. In fact, higher-order components make for a clearer structure, and they are easier to maintain because they are hierarchical, whereas mix-ins have a bigger chance of conflicting due to a flat structure.

Having separation of concerns in mind, it seems wise to decouple the presentation from the logic. In the React world, everything is a component. But the components used to present data should not have to obtain that data from an API. The convention is to have presentational (dumb) components stateless, and container components that rely on the state.

That said, the convention is not strict. There is also more than one type of state in React. Despite varying opinions, utilising local state in presentational and especially interactive components does not seem to be a bad practice.

Another distinction is between component classes and stateless function components. Obviously, the latter does not have a state. Speaking of the stateless function components, it is an official recommendation to use them when possible.

Q: What is JSX? How does it work, and why would you use it?

JSX is syntactic sugar for React JavaScript, which makes it easy to write components because it has XML-like syntax. However, JSX is JavaScript and not HTML, and React transforms the JSX syntax to pure JavaScript.

It looks awkward at first sight, although many skilled developers are used to it by now. The main reason to use it is simplicity. Defining even mildly complex structures which will eventually be rendered into HTML can be daunting and repetitive:

The New Approach to Front-End Development

ES6 (ECMA Script 2015), the new version of JavaScript, was released some time ago. The majority of React materials in the open-source community utilise ES6, and sometimes even ES7. The new version adds in expressiveness to JavaScript and also fixes a few problems of the language. The current standard procedure is to use Babel, which compiles ES6 to ES5. It allows us to write code in ES6, and let it execute correctly on the majority of current browsers as ES5. Therefore, it is crucial that the developer you will hire is proficient with ES6.

Q: What are the new features for functions in ES6?

There are a few, actually. The most prominent is the arrow function expression, which is a concise way of writing anonymous function expressions:

There is a significant difference. With arrow functions, the this object captures the value of the enclosing scope. So there is no more need to write var that = this.

Another difference is in the way arguments can be defined or passed in. ES6 brings default parameters and rest parameters. Default parameters are a very useful way to set the default value of a parameter when it is not provided in the call. The rest parameters, which have a similar syntax to the spread operator, allow processing an indefinite number of arguments passed to a function in an elegant manner.

As we previously stated, stateless function components are recommended to use when possible. However, those components are not yet optimised for performance. Consider following GitHub issues in Redux and React to learn more.

Q: What are local, or inline styles, the new trend for styles in web development?

This one is pretty rad. Until now, the declarative CSS always shared a global scope. To add styles to a reusable component, the developer had to choose a namespace carefully. Another thing, sometimes it is hard to work with CSS, because some style had to be computed, and so that single style became an exception. Of course, there is calc(), but it is not always sufficient.

Local styles, sometimes also called referred to as inline styles, solve both these problems. Now it is possible to bind a stylesheet to a component know that they remain local in relation to their scope. The styles will not affect elements out of their scope. If that was not enough, the styles become readily available in JavaScript.

How Do You State

Applications which encompass more than a single component, especially larger applications, can be difficult to maintain using just local component states. It also feels like a bad practice to put anything more than controller-style logic into React. But do not worry, there are already solutions for that.

Q: What is the application state in React, and what governs the state?

The answer is simple – it is an object which represents the current set of data and other properties of the application. The application state differs from the component local state in the way it can be referred to by multiple components.

Another difference is that the application state should not be changed directly. The only place where it can be updated is a store. Stores govern application state, and also define actions which can be dispatched, such as a result of user interactions.

Most React components should not depend on application scope. It is likely the presentational components should have access to pieces of data, but then that data should be provided to them via properties. In React, the convention is to have only the container elements dispatching actions and referring to the application scope.

Q: So, what tools for governing the state in React are out there?

Handling application state in applications built with React is usually done outside of React. Facebook, who brought us React, also introduced the Flux architecture and just enough of its implementation. The Flux part of the client-side application is where front-end business logic takes place.

React is not tightly coupled with Flux. There is also more than one Flux implementation. In fact, there are many, and there are also other very popular ones which are inspired by Flux. The most popular Flux implementations are Facebook Flux, Reflux and Alt.js. There is also Redux, which is based on Flux principles and many people believe improves on Flux.

These libraries will all get the job done. However, a choice needs to be made and it is crucial for the developer to do it consciously. Some reasonable criteria for making the choice:

How popular is the repository? Look for GitHub stars and fork count.

Is the framework maintained? Check how many commits were done in the last two weeks. Also, read the author’s notes and the open and closed issue counts.

What is the state of the documentation? This one is particularly important, team members can be added or changed but the codebase of your software needs to be clear.

How well does the developer know that particular framework?

At the moment of writing this article, Redux is by far the most popular of the bunch. It was also reviewed by the authors of Flux, who agreed that it was excellent work. The documentation is excellent, and there are 30 free short video tutorial lessons by the author. The framework itself is very simple, and most aligned with functional programming paradigms.

Alt.js also has a vibrant community, is highly praised in numerous articles, and has excellent documentation. Alt.js is also a pure Flux implementation. Several other implementations were dropped in favour of the two mentioned.

The unidirectional data flow constitutes that all changes to the application state are done in the same general way. That flow follows a similar pattern in Flux implementations, as well as in Redux. The pattern starts with an action, which is dispatched and processed by the stores and has the effect of an updated state, which in turn results in updated views.

By following that pattern, applications which govern their state with Flux or Redux are predictable and normalised. Every state version is a result of calling a set of actions. That means that it is now easier to reproduce every user experience by monitoring which actions were dispatched. A useful example is this article about logging and replaying user actions with Flux on Auth0.

It is also extremely helpful when debugging. In fact, one of the most popular frameworks inspired by Flux, Redux, was created as a side effect of creating a new set of developer tools which themselves rely on Flux concepts. There is a speech to it, called “Hot Reloading with Time Travel”, by Dan Abramov.

Miscellaneous

There are many approaches to programming, and also to software engineering in general. The programming paradigms differ far beyond the style. Recently, there are many mentions of functional programming in JavaScript. There are many advantages awaiting for the developers who seek to embrace it.

Q: Explain the functional programming paradigm.

Functional programming is a paradigm, which stresses on:

Writing pure functions.

Not having a global state.

Not mutating data.

Composition with higher-order functions.

Pure functions do not produce side-effects, and also are idempotent, meaning they always return the same value when given the same arguments.

Programs which rely on functional programming have two major advantages. They are easy to understand, and also easy to test. In contrast, assigning variables to the global scope, relying on events, and mutating data makes it very easy for the application to become chaotic. From a JavaScript developer’s perspective, I would even say it is overly easy to end up with code which is difficult to understand and prone to errors.

JavaScript is not a strictly functional language. However, with functions as first-class citizens, which means that they can be assigned and passed around just like other types and are composable, it is certainly possible to embrace functional programming for JavaScript developers.

There are many recent articles that praise this style. Still, what seems to be most important are the new tools, which become very popular very quickly. The tools incorporate the key functional programming ideas in various degrees, and include Redux, recent updates to React, and also others like Bacon.js.

Q: How to incline towards functional programming in React?

Primarily, writing React code is mostly focused on writing good JavaScript code. The general way of writing functional programming in JavaScript would be to keep a consistent style of programming, focused on:

Writing pure functions.

Keeping the functions small.

Always returning a value.

Composing functions (utilising higher order functions).

Never mutating data.

Not producing side effects.

There are many tools in JavaScript which are suited for functional programming, among others: .map(), .reduce(), .filter(), .concat. There are also new ES6 features available, like native promises or the …spread operator.

Also, there are available linters, like eslint in particular, combined with linter configurations based on the Airbnb JavaScript and React style guides. There are also other tools, like immutable.js and code patterns like deepFreeze function, which help prevent the data from mutating which is particularly valuable in tests.

React version 0.14 introduced stateless function components, which are a step towards functional programming from object-oriented programming. Those components are minimal, and should be used when possible. Generally, the vast majority of components in React applications should be presentational.

Using Redux is yet another step in functional programming direction. Redux uses function calls, unlike Flux which relies on events. All Redux reducers are also pure functions. Redux never mutates the application state. Instead, the reducers always return a new state.

Q: How to test React applications?

Last but not least comes the developer’s approach to testing. Regression issues are the ultimate source of frustration. Besides allowing the developer and the client to be assured that the application is working as expected, the tests are the remedy for regression issues.

Building a continuous integration or deployment environment in which every pushed commit is automatically tested, and if successful is deployed, has become a standard these days. It is very easy to set up, with free plans on many SaaS. Codeship for example, has good integrations and a free plan. Another good example is Travis CI which delivers a more stable and mature feeling, and is free for open source projects.

There also have to be actual tests to run. Tests are usually written using some framework. Facebook provided a testing framework for React, it is called Jest, and is based on the popular Jasmine. Another industry standard and a more flexible one is Mocha, often combined with the test runner Karma.

React provides another super feature, the TestUtils. Those provide a full quiver of tools, built specifically for testing the components. They create an abstraction instead of inserting the components into an actual page, which allows to compile and test components using unit tests.

To get more insight into testing React applications, you can read on our blog. I also recommend watching the materials available at egghead.io, where there are some series addressing React, and also Flux and Redux, and even a series with a focus on testing React applications.

Conclusion

React brings high performance to client-side apps and aligns projects which use it in a good position. The library is widely used, and has a vibrant community. Most often, turning to React, also requires the inclusion of other tools to deliver complete apps. Sometimes, it may call for a more general technology upgrade.

Web development and mobile app development (Android and iOS) are known to evolve at a very fast pace. New tools gain popularity, become valuable and ready to use within months. The innovations encompass more than just the tools, and often span to the code style, application structure and also system architecture. Front-end developers are expected to build reliable software and to optimize the process. The best are open-minded, and state sound arguments with confidence. Toptal engineers are also able to lead agile development teams, projects, the development process, and introduce new technology for the benefit of the products.